Nathan e



(No Model.)

. N; E. VARNEY. .MINBR'S SPOONING TOOL.

- No. 531,347. Patented Dec. 25, 1894.

5 proved miners spoon.

UNITED ST TES PATENT NATHAN E.\VARNEY, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR orONE-HALF TO LUoIUs L. MOORE AND JOHN A. M ORE, OF SAME PLACE.

EPECIFICATION-forrhing part of Letters Patent No. 531,347, datedDecember 25, 1894." I Application filed February 19. 1894. Serial No.500,771. (No model.)

T or. whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN E. VARNEY, a citizen of theUnited States ofAmerica, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and, useful Improvements in Miners?Spooning-Tools and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

r 5 My invention relates, to improvements in.

that class of mining tools known as drill spoons.

When drilling holes in rockit is necessary to clean the rock cuttingsfrom them every 2 o few minutes, otherwise they will clog the drill;

is used to facilitate the drilling and also when they are dry and packin the holes; second, to provide a spoon capable of enveloping andretaining the muddy contents of the drilled holes until it is withdrawn.I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated and described in theaccompanying drawings and specifications, in which- Figure 1 representsin elevation my im- Fig. 2 represents a perspective of the spoon endofthe common form of miners spoon. Fig. 3 represents two different crosssections of the helical device which constitutes my improvement.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to Fig. 1, A. designates the spoon handle. B. designates thecommon form of spoon-bowl which is extensively used at the 5presenttime.This form works fairly well when'the cuttings are in a semi-fluid statefrom the use of water when drilling, but if the muddy contents are tooliquid, it runs largely out of the spoon and back into the hole as it iswithdrawn; If the contents are too dry this form of spoon does notreadily work under them, especiallyin a down hole, being more apt tocushion on top. Frequently they are packed tight in the bottom of a'hole by the drill, and in Order to extract them frequent insertions ofthe spoon are necessary at each cleaning of the hole. This consumesconsiderable time. Consequently it is desired that the hole be clearedat one insertion of the spoon if possible, or at least with not morethan two or three. To accomplish this I form a shoulder O. on the handleA. near its extremity, allowing the end D. to extend beyond it. Myimproved spoon consists of a helical line of tempered steel preferablycone-shaped. It is secured to the shoulder O. of the handle by passingthe end through the shoulder and turning it to one side. The helixshould fit snugly to the end of the handle in order to give it a goodbearingand to stiffen it against lat- 7o eral movement at this end; Thisform of spoon possesses the advantageof conforming itself by easilybending to crooked holes which are unavoidable when the drill encountersseams in the rock. The extremity F of the helixI 7 taper to an edgewhich enables the spoon to scrape the bottom of the hole.

In Fig. 3 I show two helical wires of difierent cross sections toillustrate, that while any form of cross section can be used, some are8o better adapted to the purpose than others, that shown at E. beingespecially fitted for it.

f In Fig. 1 I show a round wire which works well.

-. To clean a drill hole the spoon isinserted and pushed to the bottomof it and then withdrawn. If the contents are like mud it will passbetween the coils of the helix which will holdit and it will bewithdrawn with it and will operate the same way if it is dry, but if itis packed in the bottom of the hole it will be necessary to give it oneor two or several revolutions which causes the sharp edge to screwintoit and hold it until it is Withdrawn,

when if it is struck against anything the cut- 5 mon form in one tool Iam able to extract the cuttings very quickly and thoroughly, and in somecases it would be desirable to make my improved spoon on either one orboth ends of the handle or rod, and to forge, or form the helix directlyfrom it, but I have illustrated it attached to the rod A. to show thatit can be applied to a spoon and rod already made.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a miners spoon, a rod having a shouldernear one end, a steel wire coiled into a cone, and having a pointed baseterminal end, and coiled adjacent to the apex end around the end of saidrod, and a hole through said shoulder in which said coil is secured, asspecified.

2. In a miners spooning tool, the combination of a rod having anenlargement near one end, and a cone-shaped bowl formed of a spirallycoiled wire, having its base terminal flattened and pointed, and it apexend emerging into a cylindrical coil and wound round the end of saidrod, and secured to said enlargement, as set forth.

3. In a miners spooning tool, the combination of a rod having the minersspoon forged on one end and an enlargement formed near the opposite end,provided with an axially arranged hole, with a steel wire coiled to forma cylindrical, hollow cone, said cone emerging at the apex end into acylindrical coil, adapted to fit tightly the end of said rod and to passthrough the hole in said enlargement, and having the base terminal ofthe Wire cone flattened wedge-shaped to a point, as herein specified.

4. The combination in a mincrs spooning tool, of a spoon formed of asteel wire, spirally wound int-0a cone, the coils of which are slightlyseparated, and the base wire of which is flattened and pointed at theend, and the apex of which extends cylindrically and embraces the end ofthe rod, with a rod provided witha collar near one end, to which theapex end of said coil is secured.

5. In a miners spoon, a spooning bowl consisting of a steel spring roundwire spirally coiled into a flexible cone, the base terminal end ofwhich is beveled 0K to form a wedgeshaped point and the apex end ofwhich emerges into a cylindrical coil, a rod suitable for a handlefitting tightly in the cylindrical portion of the spiral cone, anenlargement on said rod near one end, a small hole through saidenlargement through which the apex terminal end of the wire may be drawnand bent to secure said spiral cone to said rod, and

y a common bowl spoon forged on the opposite end of said rod, asspecified.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

NATHAN E. VARNEY.

Witnesses:

LUcIUs L. MOORE, J OHN A. MOORE.

